although (to my knowledge) only the national health interview survey contains r syntax examples in its documentation, the friendly folks at samhsa have shown promise. since their published data tables were run on a restricted-access data set, i requested that they run the same sudaan analysis code on the public use files to confirm that this new r syntax does what it should. they delivered, i matched, pats on the back all around.

if you need a one-off data point, samhda is overflowing with options to analyze the data online. you even might find some restricted statistics that won't appear in the public use files. still, that's no substitute for getting your hands dirty. when you tire of menu-driven online query tools and you're ready to bark with the big data dogs, give these puppies a whirl. the national survey on drug use and health targets the civilian,
noninstitutionalized population of the united states aged twelve and
older. this new github repository contains three scripts:

the 'download all microdata' program intentionally breaks unless you complete the clearly-defined, one-step instruction to authenticate that you have read and agree with the download terms. the script will download the entire public use file archive, but only after this step has been completed. if you contact me for help without reading those instructions, i reserve the right to tease you mercilessly. also: thanks to the great hadley wickham for figuring out how to authenticate in the first place.

confidential to sas, spss, stata, and sudaan users: did you know that you don't have to stop reading just because you've run out of candlewax? maybe it's time to switch to r. :D